We’ve known for a while that Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to reprise the role of Robert E. Howard’s Cimmerian warrior Conan the Barbarian for The Legend of Conan, but it seems that the proposed sequel to the 1982 original may not be the only time we’ll see Arnie returning to the world of Hyboria. According to Fredrik Malmberg, President and CEO of rights holders Paradox Entertainment, The Legend of Conan is being viewed as the first instalment in a new Conan trilogy – assuming that Legend performs better than the 2011 reboot of course.
“We have a great story. Everyone loves it,” Malmberg tells TheArnoldFans. “This is a role that’s perfect for him (Arnold) and he’s very involved with the whole Universal team. It’s the best team they have. Arnold has been very instrumental to being this together saying, ‘We gotta make a good Conan!’ I think if we do this right, we can do two more Conan movies right after. I think Game of Thrones also shows a huge interest in fantasy… That’s what we hope. In fact Arnold, judging by other classic actors like Eastwood who’s in his 80s, he still looks badass. I think if this film is good and is well received, then I don’t think we have to say NO to Arnold for several more movies. We can keep going forward, even after he ages.”
Malmberg also offered an update on the current status of the project, as well as touching upon the story: “We’re doing the script and it’s by the whole Fast and the Furious team, which is great for a power position of the studio because they’re extremely successful – it was the biggest movie and if anyone knows how to build a franchise, it is that team. It’s Chris Morgan and Jeffery Kirschenbaum, the head of Universal. Arnold is very excited. It’s just in the phase where it takes a lot of work to get the script just right... The idea is that this takes place AFTER Conan has been king. But this is the legend of Conan where he has been gone and people say, ‘do you remember the good ol’ days when Conan was around?’ And now it’s time for him to come back. In the stories and you can also see it when he’s sitting on the thrown and the narration on that last scene of the movie… ‘with a troubled brow’… you can tell he’s not really happy being king. So, it’s time for him to go out and do battle.”
Before he reprises the role of Conan, Arnie has several other projects on his slate, including the upcoming Escape Plan and Sabotage, sequels Triplets, The Expendables 3 and Terminator 5 (although the latter is actually a reboot), and the zombie flick Maggie.